Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Raw mango pieces
filled with chilli powder and salt always activate our taste buds and we under
no circumstances stop eating it. This habit is fairly common across India. It
always pumps in a fresh energy in you. Raw mango sellers are very common in the
roadsides of India. But can we carry a raw mango always? What if a candy serves the purpose?

Pulse, launched
in February 2015 by DS group is an innovation in the candy space. Even though brands
like Candyman, Alpenliebe, and Cadbury Chocoliars are present in the Hard –
Cooked Candy (HBC)category, powder- filled candy is a clear distinction. Pulse has
this tangy taste that a customer expects. The two variants of Pulse Kaccha Aam
(26 per cent) and Mango flavour (24 per cent) together claim 50 per cent share
in the HBC market.

Since raw
mangoes are consumed by people of all age groups cutting across geography, it
has been launched for a mass market rather than for a specific segment. Concurrently,
it is treated as an anywhere, anytime candy.

The price was
also fixed higher for Pulse. While all the other candy at that time was charged
0.5 paise, Pulse was available only for Rs. 1 with a slight increase in weight
(4 Grams for per candy). Thus a value – proposition is also painted. The positioning is based on experience of
eating. All the other candy have a uniform experience while Pulse gives a
perfect balance of sweet and tangy flavour(Named as Masala Bomb).

The brand
communication was given later which also aligns with the brand promise. My take
is that innovation is the core of success for any brand even if it is a candy.
The biggest challenge is that they have competition not only from Parle Kaccha
Mango Bite but also from cheap imitations.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Chewing Gums are
the less observed product by the marketing pundits in the confectionary space.
But it has an inexorable presence in the sector. International player Wrigleys enjoy
a formidable stake in the India’s chewing gum market. Wrigley entered the
freshening space in India by the launch of Doublemint, the category which is
dominated by ‘Center Fresh’. Center Fresh is indeed the most preferred gum
brand in India. But it caters only to younger India. Wrigley’s have Orbit for
the adults and Boomer for the kids/ teenager segment.

Since the
segmentation is more or less the same for all in the freshness category (that
is youth) you have to go for product differentiation. So Wrigley’s chose
another category i.e. cater to the non – gum segment. This also addressed to
the non – sugar segment (other being sugar segment). In the freshness category
Doublemint will certainly have competition from Halls and Mentos. The pricing
is also not par with the competition, I suspect. Hence, Wrigley’s concentrated more
on attractive communication. Today they have launched their TVC with a hashtag #StartSomethingFresh.
This as per the company will have a deeper impact in the target market.

The
story line is pretty good and we can say without any hesitation this is the
most romantic ad of the year. The whole ad have a doublemint connect and so
product positioning is excellent. The flip side is the duration of the
commercial. The full commercial is 3.30 minutes which makes to ad placing
costly. Shorter versions of the commercial may fail to deliver the desired
impact. Added to this I have to say that girl jumping out of the window of boy’s
home, girl goes to work abroad (reverse is the usual practice) portrays the new age girl and will be well
applauded. But the lip locks in the commercial would have been eluded as it is
viewed by households at home (read. who becomes orthodox by seeing this).

I know that I am excessively late
to gauge a brand like Fogg. But since 'Fogg Hi Chal raha Hai' relevance is
justifiable. Perfumes and deodorants were not an indispensable part of the life
style of Indians earlier. But over the years, the concept of beauty has changed
especially among men. Men, predominantly are now highly beauty conscious,
thanks to Hollywood as well as Salman Khan. Visiting gym, work outs and men’s
beauty parlour are now a regular sight.

Akin to grooming smelling good is
also a necessity today. Thus perfume and deodorant market got repute among the
mass in India (read it was aspirational and used only by the elite class). A
lot of deodorant brands are now in the market but are they based on a consumer
analysis is doubtful. The brand communications equate men as pied papers
catching girls. Perfumes indeed portrayed seduction. The market is also crowded
with large and small players.

Vini pharmaceuticals came with a
disruptive launch, Fogg Deo Spray with a USP no gas contained in it. The success
of the brand is ascribed to the broad consumer research done by the company. The
consumer feel that the life of gaseous sprays are too short and so consumer is
waiting for an alternative. When we consider segmentation, it is too complex to
explain but well done. Firstly Fogg came as a unisex brand (targeting men
especially youth as all other brands do). Later they launched deo for women. Fogg
also have variants suited for different occasions such as ‘nights out’, ‘big date’
etc. and thus stood different from clutter.

Interestingly, this is the only
brand which came with value – for – money proposition (more for less). This never
implies that Fogg is priced less, it is priced par with competition or slightly
more but the durability is more. They promise 800 sprays per canister.

So far, Fogg is the market leader
with a retail value market share of 17%. But competition is not mute. Wildstone
and Axe are now available in non-gas variants. A new market challenger, ITC launched
‘Engage’ with complementing fragrances for couples (a new way of segmentation).
So can Fogg sustain in the market rest on the enduring value proposition and
product innovation they deliver to the customers.